Ken Pennington - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ken Pennington
Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law, 2016
For the five centuries after Pope Gregory VII put 'libertas ecclesiae' in the center of the debat... more For the five centuries after Pope Gregory VII put 'libertas ecclesiae' in the center of the debates over the relationship of the Church to secular power and authority, much of the conflict within the Christian world revolved around one issue: what is the proper legal relationship between the ecclesiastical and secular institutions. The question that Gregory posed was 'could laymen have any jurisdiction or authority within the Church?' 1 By the thirteenth century the focus had shifted from the big issue of 'Church and State' to the relationship between the clergy and the laity. The terminology also changed. 'Libertas ecclesiastica' replaced 'libertas ecclesiae' in the writings of medieval and early modern jurists . The ramifications of this change have not yet been studied. I can make a few preliminary remarks about this intriguing development in terminology. Both terms can be traced back to the patristic age. Saint Hilary of Poitiers (Hilarius Pictaviensis) seems to have been the first to use 'libertas ecclesiae' in his commentary on the Psalms. 2 Pope Leo the Great was the first to write about 'libertas ecclesiastica' in a letter to Bishop Leo Anatolio about the difficulties in Alexandria at the time of the death of the Emperor Marcianus. 3 'Libertas ecclesiae' was, however, the preferred phrase in the early Middle Ages. In the twelfth century, the Father of Canon Law, Gratian, did not include any canons with the phrase 'libertas ecclesiae'. He did include one canon with the phrase 1
A Cultural History of Democracy in the Medieval Age , 2021
No institution in the Middle Ages possessed an unitary sovereignty; there were sovereignties. The... more No institution in the Middle Ages possessed an unitary sovereignty; there were sovereignties. These sovereignties were always contested. The people and institutions in which sovereignty resides in society have been contested since humans first constructed systems of government. A modern political scientist has defined sovereignty as "supreme authority within a territory" and has claimed his flexible definition covers the concept's long history (Philpott 2011: 561). A modern historian has argued that sovereignty is a "collection of claims and counterclaims" (Sheehan 2006: 4). The first definition would fit only some modern unitary nation-states and would not define the fragmented political, legislative, and judicial powers in medieval territories. The second is so abstract as to be meaningless. Even in modern states, sovereignty does not always reside in one place. In the United States supreme judicial, executive, and legislative authority is divided among three branches of government and among fifty states. In the Middle Ages territorial sovereignty was shared and had several different names in Latin. "Dominium," "imperium," "maiestas," "principatus," "potestas," and "iurisdictio" were the terms used to describe the power and authority that kings, princes, magistrates, and judges exercised in their offices. The most fundamental difference between the divided sovereignty of medieval territories large and small and the unitary sovereignty of some modern states was the medieval Christian Church's coercive authority and jurisdiction that penetrated every crack and crevice of Christendom and vied with secular authority everywhere after the eleventh century. The church and its courts exercised jurisdiction that was not voluntary and could not be resisted or
Thomas Aquinas and Medieval Canon Law, 2025
Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is... more Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is crucial for shaping the way in which people understand words, and those words shape their thought. This reality is strikingly true in the English-speaking world when discussing the word "law." In English, jurists understand "law" as being separate from rights. There is no linguistic connection between rights and law. Consequently, in American and English common law systems, people's rights must have their origins in positive laws promulgated by legislatures, decided in court cases, or, in the modern era, embedded in constitutions or treaties.1 Ancient Roman law and the legal systems whose foundations are anchored on its jurisprudence could find personal rights in norms that transcended positive law. The word ius in Latin can mean "law" but also has "rights" in its DNA.2 The Roman jurists integrated the word ius into
Tierney wrote finely about repraesentatio in the medieval councils of the West some twenty years ... more Tierney wrote finely about repraesentatio in the medieval councils of the West some twenty years ago.' He pointed out that repraesentatio could have three different meanings: 2 The first is symbolic representation or personification, as when a whole community is taken to be figuratively present in the person of its head.... The second meaning of our term can be defined as mimesis. Here an assembly is considered to represent a whole society because it faithfully mirrors in its composition all (society's) varied elements .... The third meaning of 'representation' is delegation or authorisation. The last item on this list, jurisprudential concept of "representatio" as agency is, perhaps, one of the most important contributions that the medieval jurists of the Ius commune made to Western legal thought. As Tierney, Post, Queller, Congar, and others have pointed out, the development of the juristic concept of agency during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had a profound effect on medieval institutions. 3 * The Kelly-Quinn Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History, Catholic University of America. 1"The Idea of Representation in the Medieval Councils of the West," Concilium 187 (1983) 25-30. The author thanks Richard Kay, who read a draft of this article and made a number of helpful suggestions. 2 Concilium 187 (1983) 25. 3 Gaines Post, "Plena potestas and Consent in Medieval Assemblies: A Study in
Crossing Boundaries at Medieval Universities
“Pax” and “Concordia” were concepts deeply embedded in the medieval imagination. Their meanings ... more “Pax” and “Concordia” were concepts deeply embedded in the medieval imagination. Their meanings parallel closely their modern cousins, peace and concord. The biggest difference between now and then is that concord had a brilliant life in the medieval intellectual world. The phrases “bond of peace and concord (vinculum pacis et concordiae)” or the “good of peace and concord (bonum pacis et concordiae)” appear many times in late antique and medieval Christian sources.
Emperors, kings, princes, and democratic governments have struggled with the question of individu... more Emperors, kings, princes, and democratic governments have struggled with the question of individual property rights for centuries. The issue was whether they could confiscate the property of individuals for any reason or whether they must have valid reasons for depriving their citizens of their property rights. This essay traces the thought of the jurists from the late antique period to the eighteenth century when the term "eminent domain" was created to define the confiscation of property rights. The major figures who played a role in the development of the jurisprudence of property rights were Isidore of Seville, Gratian, and especially Odofredus, who told the story of an encounter of the jurists Martinus and Bulgarus with the Emperor Frederick II. Their meeting in Roncaglia was a springboard for all later discussions of the problem.
I began studying the history of law 59 years ago under the gentle guidance of Jim Brundage bonae ... more I began studying the history of law 59 years ago under the gentle guidance of Jim Brundage bonae memoriae. He had to be gentle. I was a rough-hewn piece of work. Brian Tierney finished the job that Brundage started. Since then, my wanderings through the minds of Roman, medieval, and early modern jurists have been instructive, fascinating, and thought provoking. Thought provoking because it has often led me to ponder the shortcomings and tyranny of the modern nation state's positive law and its oftrepeated mantra, the rule of law. The rule of law is usually defined as the nation state's positive law supremacy without any limitations. Jurists in the modern nation state embrace the absolute authority of the positive law enacted by its legislative institutions and supported by the decisions of its courts. 1 The Romans recognized that law could be tyrannical. The North African Roman playwright Terence declared that 'Ius summum saepe summa est malitia.' 2 Cicero expressed the danger more pithily: 'Summum ius, summa iniuria.' 3 Numerous Roman jurists in the second and third centuries composed lists of regulae iuris. Peter Stein suggests that the jurists understood 'regulae iuris' as 'guides, signposts to the law'. 4 Stein has argued that pre-Justinian jurists were concerned to provide interpretation of imperial legislation with 'regulae iuris' 'in order that their meaning should be more certain'. 5 The 'regulae' ranged from mundane statements on procedure, marriage, and contracts to broad statements of fairness, freedom, and justice. It is clear that 1
Rivista internazionale di diritto comune, 2022
This essay surveys one of medieval jurisprudence’s most important contributions to modern ideas a... more This essay surveys one of medieval jurisprudence’s most
important contributions to modern ideas about how court procedure should be conducted and how the rights of defendants should be protected during a trial. European civil courts adopted these rules much earlier than English and American common law courts. The medieval heritage had its flaws. The most significant was the use of torture in the courts. The essay also describes with how torture was introduced into the courtroom and what limitations the jurists placed on it.
Kenneth Pennington and Melodie Harris Eichbauer, eds, Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage
European History Quarterly, 2013
Biography of Hostiensis, Henricus de Segusio.
Church History, 1978
The first letter in Pope Innocent III's register of his second year was Vergentis in senium, ... more The first letter in Pope Innocent III's register of his second year was Vergentis in senium, a letter which he sent to the city of Viterbo in March, 1199. The decretal reflected Innocent's growing concern with heresy in the papal states and established new and more stringent penalties for those who rejected or subverted the Christian faith. In Vergentis, perhaps following the Roman lawyer Placentinus, Innocent imposed the traditional spiritual punishment of excommunication on heretics, equated heresy with lese majesty, and applied to convicted heretics the sanctions for treason in Roman law: complete confiscation of goods, even disinheriting innocent children. The punishment was fitting, Innocent observed, because a heretic injured celestial majesty, a crime far more heinous than any offense committed against temporal authority. Since the heretics in Viterbo continued to demand his attention later in his pontificate, we do not know how effective Innocent's decree was, bu...
Church History, 1970
As a defender of the Indians and an opponent of the methods used by the Spanish conquistadors, Ba... more As a defender of the Indians and an opponent of the methods used by the Spanish conquistadors, Bartolomé de Las Casas was as controversial a figure in the sixteenth century as he has been in the last four hundred years of historiography. Las Casas' fight to preserve the freedom of the Indians has gained for him not only devoted admirers, but also angry detractors.1Las Casas was not the only Spaniard who defended the Indians, but his efforts are the best known. He labored for fifty years before death finally halted the steady flow of polemics from his pen. However, he was not just a sheltered academician like Vitoria, but he actively championed the rights of the Indians by working and living among them in the New World.
Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History
The Great Christian Jurists series comprises a library of national volumes of detailed biographie... more The Great Christian Jurists series comprises a library of national volumes of detailed biographies of leading jurists, judges and practitioners, assessing the impact of their Christian faith on the professional output of the individuals studied. Spanish legal culture, developed during the Spanish Golden Age, has had a significant influence on the legal norms and institutions that emerged in Europe and in Latin America. This volume examines the lives of twenty key personalities in Spanish legal history, in particular how their Christian faith was a factor in molding the evolution of law. Each chapter discusses a jurist within his or her intellectual and political context. All chapters have been written by distinguished legal scholars from Spain and around the world. This diversity of international and methodological perspectives gives the volume its unique character; it will appeal to scholars, lawyers, and students interested in the interplay between religion and law.
Canon law and the letters of Ivo of Chartres
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Canon Law and the Letters of Ivo of Chartres Ivo o... more Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Canon Law and the Letters of Ivo of Chartres Ivo of Chartres was one of the most learned scholars of his time, a powerful bishop and a major figure in the so-called 'Investiture Contest'. Christof rolker here offers a major new study of ...
Law books in Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries. This essay is a general survey.
SUMARIO: 1. Introducción. 2. Graciano. 3. Colecciones de decretales tras Graciano. 4. La época de... more SUMARIO: 1. Introducción. 2. Graciano. 3. Colecciones de decretales tras Graciano. 4. La época de las decretales de los Papas. 5. Decretales papales y codificación desde 1298 hasta 1580 y con posterioridad. 6. Ediciones digitales de las fuentes.
Church History/ Popes, Canonists, and Texts 1150-1550 (Collected Studies Series 412; Aldershot: Variorum, 1978
The afterlife of Pope Innocent III's decretal Vergentis.
bellus of T The Libellus of Telesphorus and the Decr elesphorus and the Decretals of Gr etals of Gregory IX , 1973
Discusses the a manuscript from the library of Leopold von Ranke and another manuscript of the De... more Discusses the a manuscript from the library of Leopold von Ranke and another manuscript of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in the Syracuse University library.
Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law, 2016
For the five centuries after Pope Gregory VII put 'libertas ecclesiae' in the center of the debat... more For the five centuries after Pope Gregory VII put 'libertas ecclesiae' in the center of the debates over the relationship of the Church to secular power and authority, much of the conflict within the Christian world revolved around one issue: what is the proper legal relationship between the ecclesiastical and secular institutions. The question that Gregory posed was 'could laymen have any jurisdiction or authority within the Church?' 1 By the thirteenth century the focus had shifted from the big issue of 'Church and State' to the relationship between the clergy and the laity. The terminology also changed. 'Libertas ecclesiastica' replaced 'libertas ecclesiae' in the writings of medieval and early modern jurists . The ramifications of this change have not yet been studied. I can make a few preliminary remarks about this intriguing development in terminology. Both terms can be traced back to the patristic age. Saint Hilary of Poitiers (Hilarius Pictaviensis) seems to have been the first to use 'libertas ecclesiae' in his commentary on the Psalms. 2 Pope Leo the Great was the first to write about 'libertas ecclesiastica' in a letter to Bishop Leo Anatolio about the difficulties in Alexandria at the time of the death of the Emperor Marcianus. 3 'Libertas ecclesiae' was, however, the preferred phrase in the early Middle Ages. In the twelfth century, the Father of Canon Law, Gratian, did not include any canons with the phrase 'libertas ecclesiae'. He did include one canon with the phrase 1
A Cultural History of Democracy in the Medieval Age , 2021
No institution in the Middle Ages possessed an unitary sovereignty; there were sovereignties. The... more No institution in the Middle Ages possessed an unitary sovereignty; there were sovereignties. These sovereignties were always contested. The people and institutions in which sovereignty resides in society have been contested since humans first constructed systems of government. A modern political scientist has defined sovereignty as "supreme authority within a territory" and has claimed his flexible definition covers the concept's long history (Philpott 2011: 561). A modern historian has argued that sovereignty is a "collection of claims and counterclaims" (Sheehan 2006: 4). The first definition would fit only some modern unitary nation-states and would not define the fragmented political, legislative, and judicial powers in medieval territories. The second is so abstract as to be meaningless. Even in modern states, sovereignty does not always reside in one place. In the United States supreme judicial, executive, and legislative authority is divided among three branches of government and among fifty states. In the Middle Ages territorial sovereignty was shared and had several different names in Latin. "Dominium," "imperium," "maiestas," "principatus," "potestas," and "iurisdictio" were the terms used to describe the power and authority that kings, princes, magistrates, and judges exercised in their offices. The most fundamental difference between the divided sovereignty of medieval territories large and small and the unitary sovereignty of some modern states was the medieval Christian Church's coercive authority and jurisdiction that penetrated every crack and crevice of Christendom and vied with secular authority everywhere after the eleventh century. The church and its courts exercised jurisdiction that was not voluntary and could not be resisted or
Thomas Aquinas and Medieval Canon Law, 2025
Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is... more Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is crucial for shaping the way in which people understand words, and those words shape their thought. This reality is strikingly true in the English-speaking world when discussing the word "law." In English, jurists understand "law" as being separate from rights. There is no linguistic connection between rights and law. Consequently, in American and English common law systems, people's rights must have their origins in positive laws promulgated by legislatures, decided in court cases, or, in the modern era, embedded in constitutions or treaties.1 Ancient Roman law and the legal systems whose foundations are anchored on its jurisprudence could find personal rights in norms that transcended positive law. The word ius in Latin can mean "law" but also has "rights" in its DNA.2 The Roman jurists integrated the word ius into
Tierney wrote finely about repraesentatio in the medieval councils of the West some twenty years ... more Tierney wrote finely about repraesentatio in the medieval councils of the West some twenty years ago.' He pointed out that repraesentatio could have three different meanings: 2 The first is symbolic representation or personification, as when a whole community is taken to be figuratively present in the person of its head.... The second meaning of our term can be defined as mimesis. Here an assembly is considered to represent a whole society because it faithfully mirrors in its composition all (society's) varied elements .... The third meaning of 'representation' is delegation or authorisation. The last item on this list, jurisprudential concept of "representatio" as agency is, perhaps, one of the most important contributions that the medieval jurists of the Ius commune made to Western legal thought. As Tierney, Post, Queller, Congar, and others have pointed out, the development of the juristic concept of agency during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had a profound effect on medieval institutions. 3 * The Kelly-Quinn Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History, Catholic University of America. 1"The Idea of Representation in the Medieval Councils of the West," Concilium 187 (1983) 25-30. The author thanks Richard Kay, who read a draft of this article and made a number of helpful suggestions. 2 Concilium 187 (1983) 25. 3 Gaines Post, "Plena potestas and Consent in Medieval Assemblies: A Study in
Crossing Boundaries at Medieval Universities
“Pax” and “Concordia” were concepts deeply embedded in the medieval imagination. Their meanings ... more “Pax” and “Concordia” were concepts deeply embedded in the medieval imagination. Their meanings parallel closely their modern cousins, peace and concord. The biggest difference between now and then is that concord had a brilliant life in the medieval intellectual world. The phrases “bond of peace and concord (vinculum pacis et concordiae)” or the “good of peace and concord (bonum pacis et concordiae)” appear many times in late antique and medieval Christian sources.
Emperors, kings, princes, and democratic governments have struggled with the question of individu... more Emperors, kings, princes, and democratic governments have struggled with the question of individual property rights for centuries. The issue was whether they could confiscate the property of individuals for any reason or whether they must have valid reasons for depriving their citizens of their property rights. This essay traces the thought of the jurists from the late antique period to the eighteenth century when the term "eminent domain" was created to define the confiscation of property rights. The major figures who played a role in the development of the jurisprudence of property rights were Isidore of Seville, Gratian, and especially Odofredus, who told the story of an encounter of the jurists Martinus and Bulgarus with the Emperor Frederick II. Their meeting in Roncaglia was a springboard for all later discussions of the problem.
I began studying the history of law 59 years ago under the gentle guidance of Jim Brundage bonae ... more I began studying the history of law 59 years ago under the gentle guidance of Jim Brundage bonae memoriae. He had to be gentle. I was a rough-hewn piece of work. Brian Tierney finished the job that Brundage started. Since then, my wanderings through the minds of Roman, medieval, and early modern jurists have been instructive, fascinating, and thought provoking. Thought provoking because it has often led me to ponder the shortcomings and tyranny of the modern nation state's positive law and its oftrepeated mantra, the rule of law. The rule of law is usually defined as the nation state's positive law supremacy without any limitations. Jurists in the modern nation state embrace the absolute authority of the positive law enacted by its legislative institutions and supported by the decisions of its courts. 1 The Romans recognized that law could be tyrannical. The North African Roman playwright Terence declared that 'Ius summum saepe summa est malitia.' 2 Cicero expressed the danger more pithily: 'Summum ius, summa iniuria.' 3 Numerous Roman jurists in the second and third centuries composed lists of regulae iuris. Peter Stein suggests that the jurists understood 'regulae iuris' as 'guides, signposts to the law'. 4 Stein has argued that pre-Justinian jurists were concerned to provide interpretation of imperial legislation with 'regulae iuris' 'in order that their meaning should be more certain'. 5 The 'regulae' ranged from mundane statements on procedure, marriage, and contracts to broad statements of fairness, freedom, and justice. It is clear that 1
Rivista internazionale di diritto comune, 2022
This essay surveys one of medieval jurisprudence’s most important contributions to modern ideas a... more This essay surveys one of medieval jurisprudence’s most
important contributions to modern ideas about how court procedure should be conducted and how the rights of defendants should be protected during a trial. European civil courts adopted these rules much earlier than English and American common law courts. The medieval heritage had its flaws. The most significant was the use of torture in the courts. The essay also describes with how torture was introduced into the courtroom and what limitations the jurists placed on it.
Kenneth Pennington and Melodie Harris Eichbauer, eds, Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage
European History Quarterly, 2013
Biography of Hostiensis, Henricus de Segusio.
Church History, 1978
The first letter in Pope Innocent III's register of his second year was Vergentis in senium, ... more The first letter in Pope Innocent III's register of his second year was Vergentis in senium, a letter which he sent to the city of Viterbo in March, 1199. The decretal reflected Innocent's growing concern with heresy in the papal states and established new and more stringent penalties for those who rejected or subverted the Christian faith. In Vergentis, perhaps following the Roman lawyer Placentinus, Innocent imposed the traditional spiritual punishment of excommunication on heretics, equated heresy with lese majesty, and applied to convicted heretics the sanctions for treason in Roman law: complete confiscation of goods, even disinheriting innocent children. The punishment was fitting, Innocent observed, because a heretic injured celestial majesty, a crime far more heinous than any offense committed against temporal authority. Since the heretics in Viterbo continued to demand his attention later in his pontificate, we do not know how effective Innocent's decree was, bu...
Church History, 1970
As a defender of the Indians and an opponent of the methods used by the Spanish conquistadors, Ba... more As a defender of the Indians and an opponent of the methods used by the Spanish conquistadors, Bartolomé de Las Casas was as controversial a figure in the sixteenth century as he has been in the last four hundred years of historiography. Las Casas' fight to preserve the freedom of the Indians has gained for him not only devoted admirers, but also angry detractors.1Las Casas was not the only Spaniard who defended the Indians, but his efforts are the best known. He labored for fifty years before death finally halted the steady flow of polemics from his pen. However, he was not just a sheltered academician like Vitoria, but he actively championed the rights of the Indians by working and living among them in the New World.
Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History
The Great Christian Jurists series comprises a library of national volumes of detailed biographie... more The Great Christian Jurists series comprises a library of national volumes of detailed biographies of leading jurists, judges and practitioners, assessing the impact of their Christian faith on the professional output of the individuals studied. Spanish legal culture, developed during the Spanish Golden Age, has had a significant influence on the legal norms and institutions that emerged in Europe and in Latin America. This volume examines the lives of twenty key personalities in Spanish legal history, in particular how their Christian faith was a factor in molding the evolution of law. Each chapter discusses a jurist within his or her intellectual and political context. All chapters have been written by distinguished legal scholars from Spain and around the world. This diversity of international and methodological perspectives gives the volume its unique character; it will appeal to scholars, lawyers, and students interested in the interplay between religion and law.
Canon law and the letters of Ivo of Chartres
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Canon Law and the Letters of Ivo of Chartres Ivo o... more Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Canon Law and the Letters of Ivo of Chartres Ivo of Chartres was one of the most learned scholars of his time, a powerful bishop and a major figure in the so-called 'Investiture Contest'. Christof rolker here offers a major new study of ...
Law books in Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries. This essay is a general survey.
SUMARIO: 1. Introducción. 2. Graciano. 3. Colecciones de decretales tras Graciano. 4. La época de... more SUMARIO: 1. Introducción. 2. Graciano. 3. Colecciones de decretales tras Graciano. 4. La época de las decretales de los Papas. 5. Decretales papales y codificación desde 1298 hasta 1580 y con posterioridad. 6. Ediciones digitales de las fuentes.
Church History/ Popes, Canonists, and Texts 1150-1550 (Collected Studies Series 412; Aldershot: Variorum, 1978
The afterlife of Pope Innocent III's decretal Vergentis.
bellus of T The Libellus of Telesphorus and the Decr elesphorus and the Decretals of Gr etals of Gregory IX , 1973
Discusses the a manuscript from the library of Leopold von Ranke and another manuscript of the De... more Discusses the a manuscript from the library of Leopold von Ranke and another manuscript of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in the Syracuse University library.
Life and work of Pietro Collevaccino Beneventano
Draft
Isidore of Seville (†636) formulated a remarkable list of natural rights in his Etymologiae; some... more Isidore of Seville (†636) formulated a remarkable list of natural rights in his Etymologiae; some which do not seem to have had any precedents in Roman culture and law. Isidore defined property as the natural right of all human beings to hold all property in common. His definition of natural property rights and all human beings right to live free echoed in European jurisprudence for over a millennium.
Draft
Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is... more Rights may be the most important legal attribute people possess in society. Language, however, is crucial for shaping the way in which people understand words, and those words shape their thought. This reality is strikingly true in the Englishspeaking world when discussing the word "law." In English, jurists understand "law" as being separate from rights. There is no linguistic connection between rights and law. Consequently, in American and English common law systems, people's rights must have their origins in positive laws promulgated by legislatures, decided in court cases, or, in the modern era, embedded in constitutions or treaties.1 Ancient Roman law and the legal systems whose foundations are anchored on its jurisprudence could find personal rights in norms that transcended positive law.
Examines the use of secular law in early medieval legal texts and manuscripts, especially in coll... more Examines the use of secular law in early medieval legal texts and manuscripts, especially in collections of canon law until thee early twelfth century. Grateful for any comments, large or small.
Survey of the role that the ideas of peace and concord played in medieval society and intellectua... more Survey of the role that the ideas of peace and concord played in medieval society and intellectual life.
Essay is intended for the general reader. Footnotes kept to a minimum and mainly English. Would... more Essay is intended for the general reader. Footnotes kept to a minimum and mainly English. Would be grateful to readers fo suggestions of topics not covered or not covered sufficiently. And of course corrections. Or any other comments.
Sankt Gallen Stiftsbibliothek 673 is an early version of Gratian's Decretum that was used in the ... more Sankt Gallen Stiftsbibliothek 673 is an early version of Gratian's Decretum that was used in the classroom to teach canon law. This essay discusses the evidence for that statement.
American Journal of Legal History, 2012
Christof Rolker has written the most exciting book on pre-Gratian canonical collections since Kla... more Christof Rolker has written the most exciting book on pre-Gratian canonical collections since Klaus Zechiel-Eckes published his studies on Pseudo-Isidore. The received wisdom on Ivo of Chartres was that he compiled three canonical collections: the Tripartita, Decretum, and the Panormia, which is an abbreviated version of Ivo's Decretum. Thanks to the efforts of Martin Brett, Bruce Brasington, and others, all three collections can now be used in preliminary editions on the web at http://knowledgeforge.net/ivo/. Scholarly opinions varied greatly about whether all three collections should be attributed to Ivo. The issue is important because scholarly opinion also has been convinced that Gratian used the Tripartita and the Panormia when he compiled his Decretum. If this were true, it would mean that Ivo of Chartres' methodology had a profound influence on the Father of Canon Law. Rolker's book began as a dissertation directed under the firm hand of Martin Brett, who has been the driving force in Ivonian studies. Rolker devised a very clever strategy to solve the questions of authorship. He reasoned that if Ivo had been the author of all three collections, he would have used them in his letters in which he was accustomed to cite canonical texts. With that working hypothesis, Rolker went to work. His results were stunning. The only collection that Ivo used in his letters was the Decretum. He did not use the Tripartita nor the Panormia. The conclusion is inexorably clear: although Ivo used a version of the Tripartita for his Decretum and although the Parnomia was dependent on his Decretum, since he cited neither collection in his letters, he could not be their author. Rolker has brilliantly solved a puzzle that has perplexed scholars for over a century.
The Thomist, 2019
A short review of the history of the jurisprudence of natural law while discussing Riccardo Sacce... more A short review of the history of the jurisprudence of natural law while discussing Riccardo Saccenti's Debating Medieval Natural Law.
Orazio Condorelli and Rafael Domingo (eds.), Routledge, 2020
Firmly rooted on Roman and Canon law, Italian legal culture, from the Middle Ages to our day, has... more Firmly rooted on Roman and Canon law, Italian legal culture, from the Middle Ages to our day, has had an impressive influence on the civil law tradition, and it is rightly regarded as “the cradle of the European legal culture.” Along with the Justinian’s compilation, the US Constitution, and the French Civil Code, the Decretum of Master Gratian or the so-called Glossa ordinaria of Accursius are one of the few legal sources that have influenced the entire world for centuries.
This volume explores a millennium-long story of law and religion in Italy through a series of 26 biographical chapters. The chapters range from the first Italian civilians and canonists, Irnerius and Gratian in the early twelfth century, to the leading architect of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI. Between these two book ends, this volume offers notable case studies of familiar civilians like Bartolo, Baldo, and Gentili and familiar canonists like Hostiensis, Panormitanus, and Gasparri but also a number of other jurists in the broadest sense who deserve much more attention especially outside of Italy.
All chapters have been written by distinguished legal scholars and historians from Italy and around the world. This diversity of international and methodological perspectives gives the volume its unique character; it will appeal to scholars, lawyers, and students interested in the interplay between religion and law in the era of globalization.